Let It Go
by leovcldez
Summary: *NOT QUITE JELSA* As Elsa walks away from Arendelle, guilt and longing to return home threatens to envelop her. How will she survive? With a little fun, of course. { Lyrics from 'Let It Go' are tied in. You should read it; it's great(; }


**_Hey you guys! So, on my other story, I forgot to put one of these introduction-thingys first off. *slaps self* Sorry about that._**

**_Alright, so...this isn't a typical #Jesla thing. Like, it sort of is, but it doesn't really have them fall in love. It's like Elsa finds what she's searching for in Jack. What she's needed, after years of being isolated. Or whatever. I don't want to give anything away. So...just go ahead and read._**

**_Disclaimer: I own none of the Frozen nor ROTG characters. (*sniff sniff* Sadly *sniff sniff*)_**

**_ONE MORE THING! I started writing this...left it alone...wrote on and off...and finished in (what felt like to me) in a rush tonight. So, if it doesn't seem the best, *DON'T BE SCARED TO TELL ME*! Then I'll know not to write so spaced apart, and not to rush so much. Okay? Okay. ( TFIOS reference OMG!)_**

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

Elsa trudged through the snow, her cloak billowing in the wind. The tears that trailed down her face seemed to be freezing on her pale skin, fracturing and breaking into a million pieces. Just like her heart.

Elsa winced, and glanced behind her, towards Arendelle. The snow seemed to sparkle like diamonds on the rough terrain, pelting down in sheets and covering each footprint almost as soon as they appeared.

_The snow glows white on the mountain tonight_

_Not a footprint to be seen_

She could hear no neighing of horses, no angry shouts of men. Nothing but her breathing, her heartbeat, and her feet diving into the layers of snow.

_A kingdom of isolation, and it looks like I'm the Queen_

Elsa narrowed her eyes against the wind, and could barely see the glowing lights of her kingdom. _No. Not her kingdom. _Simply Arendelle now-just a town, a place, a memory that would soon grow distant in the back of her mind.

Even as she thought that, Elsa felt a strong pain in her heart, a pain of longing. She didn't want to leave Arendelle. She didn't want to leave Anna. Poor Anna, left alone all those years. Elsa _had_ to go back to her. But no, she had to protect her. Should she go back and seek forgiveness, pray that they would understand, or stay and never heal the growing hole in her heart? The wind seemed to be taunting Elsa, swirling around her, its shrilling laughter coming in bursts that made her stumble.

_The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside_

This was all her fault. She couldn't control her emotions. She let them get the better of her. She let Ann's words seep inside her head, twisting her into a rage of fury, causing her to be desperate to show her sister how much she loved her, how much she cared for her…

_Couldn't keep it in_

…How the years she spent, trapped behind her bedroom door, were all for Anna. Were for everyone. Were to protect those who might be hurt, if she didn't harness control. Elsa's eyes suddenly saw a little Anna, leaping from snow bank to snow bank, giggling and calling for Elsa to summon more, leaping quicker and quicker, going too fast, too fast…and then collapsing to the ground, a strand of white in her hair, ice cold.

_Heaven knows I tried_

The cold snow bit into her skin, and Elsa realized she had fallen. She hunched over, biting back a sob. Her blue eyes looked shattered, as fractured as the ice she controlled sometimes was. Elsa closed her eyes, a single tear slipping down her cheek.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

Elsa lifted her head in surprise, her shining eyes wide. The wind was swirling faster now, a flurry of snow that made it near impossible to see. "H-Hello?"

"You sound uncertain. Is English your main language?" Elsa could see a dark silhouette a couple of yards away, holding something that looked like a weapon. "If it isn't, then I'm afraid our time together will be short. I only know English, and a couple of choice Russian swear words I learned from the Big Guy himself."

"W-What?" Elsa huddled on the cold ground, her heart hammering. She peered into the swirling snow, squinting at the dark figure. "Who's there? Show yourself," she commanded, her queenly voice ringing out in the frostbitten air.

"Show myself? My my, what a demanding figure you are, aren't you?" As the figure talked-a male, from the depth of his voice-he gradually walked towards Elsa. "Let's see, how about I just give a description for the time being. You know, like what cops write on their little forms? I've been asked to describe myself for _quite _a few of those, so I think I have my self-image down now. Heh, hem." The male cleared his throat. "I'm three hundred and seventeen years old, but I'm not a wizened old decaying corpse, don't worry. I look seventeen, but that's because I died at age _fourteen_, due to the fact ice seems to not know how to hold up weight. Honestly, _bench press_. I am invisible to those who don't believe in me, which is quite sad because-" The teenager now stood beside Elsa, and she could see him clearly. He smirked. "I am _devilishly _handsome. Wouldn't you agree?"

Elsa stared blankly at the boy in front of her. He projected confidence with his tall stature-he held himself with eerie casualness. A blue hooded sweater was draped on his slim shoulders, frost gathering around the collar. He wore worn, light brown trousers, bound with lighter material starting from the knee down to the rather tattered and frayed bottom. Bare feet stood sunken in the snow, pale white despite the cold. He had snow-white hair that made her own platinum-blonde streaks look gray. He leaned against a wooden staff with a G-shaped arch. His bright blue eyes twinkled with amusement, waiting for her to answer.

Elsa was suddenly aware of her dry mouth. With her gorgeous hair put up in a French braided crown twist bun, her teal dress with a sweetheart bodice, bronze lacing, and black sleeves, delicate hands clutched in cyan gloves, dark teal stockings (which offered little shelter from the cold), dark brown shoes, and her magenta cape billowing in the wind, she truly looked like a queen. This boy looked like nothing more than someone she would pass on the streets, curled up in a dark corner, yet something in his eyes prompted her to speak.

"That's debatable." The hint of a smile played across her soft lips, clad in magenta lipstick. Her rosy cheeks flushed slightly. Elsa noticed her misstep, her openness, her vulnerability. She instantly composed herself to seem distant, her resolve as fragile as crystal glass.

_Don't let them in, don't let them see_.

She _couldn't _let anyone into her twisted life. Not anyone in Arendelle, not Anna, and certainly not a complete stranger.

_Be the good girl you always have to be_.

The boy playfully looked dumbstruck, widening his eyes and placing a hand on his chest. He seemed to notice her draw back, and pushed further. "_Debatable_? From what world do you come from where a blue-eyed boy isn't absolutely _gorgeous_?"

"The same world where ladies don't typically go for old men," Elsa teased, the comment slipping out of her mouth faster than water, catching her by surprise. Her blue eyes flickered up to his hair, while silently cursing herself. _Keep it together. Let him in, and it will do you no good._

_Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know_.

He snorted. "I already told you, I'm _not _old. It's a hair condition," he mumbled.

Elsa laughed, her first true laugh in years. Dimples appeared next to her light freckles on her cheeks. She bit her tongue to stop it, bringing tears to her eyes. She held her breath, stock-still.

The boy simply raised an eyebrow at her. "Jumpy, are you? Happy one minute, crying the next."

"It's not like that, it's just-" Elsa took a shaky breath. She could feel the air around her growing thicker, snow falling more heavily. _Get it under control. _Her hands shook, her heart raced as fast as it had the day she'd played with Anna. The day they'd built a snowman. The day she'd caused a single strand of Anna's hair to turn snow white.

She suddenly felt a burst of force pressing against the inside of her gloves. Elsa tore one off, gripping it with the other cloaked hand.

"Hey, now. Careful, you might lose that princess." The boy took a step closer, his hand outstretched to take the glove from her.

She took a step back. "Please." She held her hands out in front of her. "Please, just stay-_stay away!_" A burst of ice shot from her bare hand straight towards the teenage boy, who'd been watching her with increasing alarm and surprisingly, interest.

Elsa's throat felt tight. "Look out!" She cried, only to realize he hadn't moved. A sheet of ice turned her view of the boy into watery ripples. Somehow, her icy blast had been transformed into a gleaming wall.

The boy peeked around the ice and grinned at her. "Remember my police description? Over three hundred years old, invisible to those who don't believe in me, etc, etc? I sort of forgot to mention…my name's Jack Frost, and I can control ice." A dimple appeared in his left cheek. "So can you, apparently."

Elsa's mind seemed to have gone numb. "You-You can…" Never, in her whole life, had she heard of someone with powers like hers. It made her wonder…was he simply a figment of her imagination? A being conjured to soothe a saddened soul? "Are you-are you alive? Are you _real_?"

Jack looked down at himself, and then curiously back at her. "Um..I think so?"

Elsa's eyes widened. "T-This isn't happening."

"I believe it is."

"This can't be real."

"I am 99.9% sure that _it is real_."

"I must be going insane."

"Since you aren't believing me, I'm starting to wonder the same thing as well."

There seemed to be a faint buzzing in Elsa's skull. When he took a step forward, she took one back, her hands in front of her like a shield. It was an instinct, and she did it without realizing. She had learned to keep the world at an arm's length, to protect them from the deadly power she possessed. But…he was different. He knew. He _understood._

_"__Catch me!" A little Anna leaps into the air, and soon realizes there's nothing to catch her. Her eyes widen in horror as she starts to fall. A scream is ripped from her throat, a scream of absolute horror._

_"__Anna!" Elsa reaches for her sister, only to watch in horror as a strand of her hair turns white._

_The trolls._

_The wiped memories._

_The looks of horror and fear replacing the once-loving looks of her parents._

No, he _didn't _understand.

Whoever, whatever he was, he wasn't worth the effort of opening up, of opening that locked door. He won't comprehend, he won't understand, he wouldn't get it.

"Leave me alone," Elsa said softly, taking a step past Jack.

"Hey." He gripped her arm. "You're running away because I have the same abilities as you? What are you, some sort of princess that thinks she's above everyone else?"

Jack's slamming, sarcastic comment was the usual for his nature. If Elsa had looked back, she would've seen the mischievous twinkle in his eye, seen that he was only teasing. But without that reference, anger rose up inside of her. Quick, hot, a fireball sending rage through all her bones, filling her with a light that only burned fiercer the longer she stood still.

"Above everyone else?" Elsa yanked her arm away, and glared at Jack. "For your _information_, I don't think I'm above everyone else. I stay distant because I _almost killed my sister_!" Her hands curled into fists. "I stay distant to protect others, to keep them safe from my powers. I don't think I'm above everyone else, but obviously you do, and you can't even begin to understand _what I go through!_" She screamed, pressing her hands to her temples.

Jack stood there, quietly looking at her. "Yes, I do."

Elsa's eyes flashed. "I doubt it."

"I died saving my sister from falling through ice. When I woke up…well, it wasn't the same lifetime." Jack's eyes looked pained. "I never saw her again. For three hundred years, I was alone. No one could see me. I wandered, a ghost on a breeze, no one knowing my name, no one listening to me when I yelled it to the world." His shoulders slumped. "So yes, I think I might have some idea of what you mean."

Elsa froze, crystallizing as her own ice often did. She saw Jack for the first time-a slumped, sad figure, who had no family to speak of. In his world, he hadn't shut the bedroom door. The _world_ had shut the door, and he had been locked out.

Elsa looked at her hands, hands that held the same power as Jack's staff. She could have easily blasted him, send him flying into the storm. But he knew. About her powers, about her pain.

_Well, now they know._

She let her hands drop to her sides.

_Let it go, let it go._

Elsa realized she was still holding her glove. She released it, watching it fly away in the wind. The other soon joined it.

"Good job. I bet those didn't cost a fortune or anything."

_Can't hold it back anymore._

"I'm Elsa," she said quietly, looking over at Jack.

"What was that?" Jack cupped a hand to his ear. "Bells-a? _Bells-a-ringing_…" He burst into song, spinning in a circle, staff in hand.

"_El-_sa," Elsa repeated, laughing. Something in her chest lifted, and she felt lighter. Free.

_Let it go, let it go._

She glanced behind her, away from a spinning boy and towards the home that she loved. Arendelle was small, a few specks of light in the distance. A few specks of light in her rapidly dimming world. Her heart ached, and she suddenly realized her skirts were bunched in her hands, ready for her to fly down the mountaintop and back to the palace. Back to Anna.

Back to frightened citizens, back to soldiers, back to swords pointed in her direction, back to crying children and a locked door to a cell and to a world where no one understood.

Back to hopelessness, loneliness, and isolation.

Elsa's smooth, silky skirts slipped from her fingertips, and fell to her side with barely a rustle, barely a displacement.

"Hey, Mrs. Ice-Lady-who-almost-killed-me?" She felt the weight of a hand on her shoulder, and looked over at Jack. His eyes softened. "Elsa, you alright?"

She nodded, and took a shuddering breath. "I'm fine," Elsa said, standing with her back to Arendelle, facing Jack. Facing the mountaintop. Facing a new life.

_Turn away and slam the door._

Jack grinned wickedly. "Good." He twirled his staff in his hand. "Because you look like you need to take your mind off things. Start over. Have some fun."

"Start over, you say?" Elsa gave him a small, tired smile. "I could use that."

"Well, I would _start _with the outfit." Jack's staff indicated her ceremonial attire. "Honestly girl, uptight and uncomfortable is _so _last season."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "What would _you_ recommend then?"

Jack's eyes gleamed. "Close your eyes."

She sighed dramatically, then shut her eyes. Elsa felt a cleansing cold spread over her body, and then fade. She heard Jack give a whistle of approval. Opening her eyes, she glanced down at her new outfit.

Elsa gasped. "It's gorgeous."

She wore a crystal-blue dress that fell lightly off her shoulders, had a right knee-high slit, a crystallized bodice, and powder blue sleeves. A long, transparent glitter trail cape streamed behind her, and she wore ice high heels. The sight took her breath away.

Jack stepped closer to her. "One last thing." A hand reached up and plucked the crown from her hair, and she felt the pressure releaseas her braid tumbled onto her left shoulder. With a tap of Jack's finger, it became inlaid with snowflake incrustations. He lowered his eyes to be level with hers, saw her satisfaction, and smirked. "Perfect. Now, ready to have some fun?"

Elsa's breath caught in her throat at the thought of what else Jack could possibly enchant her with. Deep down, she knew that all of this-the attire, the association with a complete stranger-would have horrified her advisors. She was supposed to be a queen, not a child playing in the snow. But she didn't care anymore. It wasn't as if she was to return to Arendelle anytime soon.

_I don't care what they're going to say._

Jack held his hand out to her, and she took it, her long fingers folding into his gentle grip. He grinned crookedly. "Hold on."

"Whatever do you-" Elsa's sentence was left dangling in the frostbitten air as her feet left the ground. She screeched, and looped her arms around Jack's neck. Looking down, the ground was but a speck miles below them.

She could hear Jack laugh in her ear. "Flying often takes the breath out of most. Please, if you feel nauseous on the flight, do us all a favor and lean _far away_ from the pilot."

Elsa laughed, craning her head to get a better look at the landscape. "I'll keep that in mind," she said, raising her voice above the wind. As Jack tightened his grip on her, Elsa took in everything with greedy eyes. Staring at the world, covered in snow, it made her feel alive. She felt content, to stay in this moment, to let the world move around the pair as they sailed past the moon and into the starry sky.

_Let the storm rage on._

Elsa whooped, her laugh tinkling like bells in the night air. The wind slid past her pale arms, and she loved the feeling of weightlessness. A bubble of joy expanded in her chest, and she closed her eyes, soaking it all in. Merely a couple of hours before, her life was in utter turmoil. Now, with Jack's arms wrapped around her, sailing on an invisible ship past the clouds, she felt that emptiness and pain melting away. She felt unstoppable. Joyous.

Free.

Healed.

_The cold never bothered me anyway._

* * *

**_Alright, I hope you liked it. I hope you liked how I tied the song into the story. When I first started writing this, it seemed like a cool idea._**

**_Please review! Thanks for reading!_**

**_(P.S.-a POTC fanfic might be on the heels of this one. Reason? Simple-I LOVE Jack Sparrow.)_**


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